Methadone: Drug Treatment or Just Another Addiction?

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Article Title:

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Methadone: Drug Treatment or Just Another Addiction?

Article Description:

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Drug addiction to Opiates (Oxycontin, Vicodin, Heroin, etc) is

one of the hardest to overcome. The physical withdrawals resemble

a severe case of the flu that can last for several days, and many

addicts immediately revert to drugs or find themselves rushing to

the methadone clinic to ease their symptoms. Drug treatment,

however, which hands out another highly addictive opiate doesn't

make sense.

Additional Article Information:

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535 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2007-10-04 12:08:00

Written By: Lora French

Copyright: 2007

Contact Email: mailto:lora.french@...

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Methadone: Drug Treatment or Just Another Addiction?

Copyright © 2007 Lora French

DrugRehab.net

http://www.drugrehab.net

Drug addiction to Opiates (Oxycontin, Vicodin, Heroin, etc) is

one of the hardest to overcome. The physical withdrawals resemble

a severe case of the flu that can last for several days, and many

addicts immediately revert to drugs or find themselves rushing to

the methadone clinic to ease their symptoms. Drug treatment,

however, which hands out another highly addictive opiate doesn't

make sense.

Methadone, a synthetic form of an opioid, acts much like heroin.

It inhibits the opioid receptors in the brain. Where heroin

releases an abundance of dopamine in the system and creates a

euphoric high from this same receptor, methadone blocks the high

and reduces the withdrawal symptoms from heroin. In this way,

methadone has proven to be an effective form of drug treatment.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Fact

Sheet on methadone, " Methadone is a rigorously, well-tested

medication that is safe and efficacious for the treatment of

narcotic withdrawal and dependence. "

If the desired effect is narcotic withdrawal, why is it

acceptable to make the opiate addict dependent on another drug?

The same fact sheet also reports that " ultimately, the patient

remains physically dependent on methadone. "

Former heroin addicts who went through a methadone program as a

drug treatment, report that the withdrawal symptoms are much more

intense than withdrawing from heroin. One former addict said,

" I've been on both ends of withdrawals, heroin and methadone.

Every patient of methadone will always tell you the same as I do:

I can kick heroin anytime, but methadone - that is something

else. In 15 years of heroin addiction, I've kicked [heroin] 3

times. In 10 years on methadone, I've never kicked. "

The advocates for methadone look at the fact sheet and point out

the statistics that say weekly heroin use decreased by 69% for

those addicts on a methadone drug treatment program, and that

criminal behavior decreased by 52%. That leaves 31% of methadone

patients who still use heroin weekly. What about the 48% of

addicts who take methadone and still engage in criminal activity?

What happens to all these patients when they decide that they

want to free themselves of their new dependency on methadone?

Thinking logically, drug treatment that simply creates new

addictions in place of the old does not compute. Those suffering

from opiate addiction deserve drug treatment that offers more

than just easing their withdrawal symptoms and reducing their

cravings. Ultimately, the drug treatment must focus on freeing

the opiate addict from ALL drug dependencies.

Drug Free Rehabilitation centers (ones that do not use drugs or

medication to replace other drugs) exist. One such center,

Narconon Vista Bay which can be found at www.drugrehab.net,

approaches drug treatment in a natural, holistic way A closely

supervised withdrawal program, coupled with a breakthrough

detoxification process, can free opiate addicts from their

dependency on all drugs and help them to build a productive life,

without the need of a daily dose of methadone.

Yes, overcoming opiate addiction can be difficult and perhaps a

little painful. Yes, taking a daily dose of methadone is pretty

easy. However, the consequences of taking methadone as a drug

treatment solution can, and most likely, will only create

additional problems for the opiate addict.

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Lora French lives in Santa Cruz and currently writes on a variety

of topics surrounding drug addiction and drug rehabilitation. For

more information on the drug rehab program that saved her life,

visit http://www.drugrehab.net If you plan to reproduce this

article, please include the link above.